Movie review: Deep Water

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas in erotic thriller Deep Water, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Cinema's foremost modern purveyor of the erotic thriller attempts to bring the almost-extinct sub-genre back to life with this diverting effort about an especially complicated marriage.

With 9 ½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, director Adrian Lyne defined the erotic thriller, a once central-to-the-culture style of movie that studios have shown little interest in mounting in the past few decades. So fans of the form were excited when word emerged that Lyne would be helming a new adaptation of a 1957 book by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley). That excitement was quelled somewhat when it was announced that the film would bypass theatres and go straight onto streaming services.

Updated to a contemporary New Orleans setting (Deep Water was previously adapted into a French movie in 1981, and a German mini-series in 1983), this centres around rich computer chip designer Vic Van Allen (Ben Affleck) and his wife Melinda (Ana de Armas), parents to a precocious 6-year-old.

Although it's never directly articulated, Vic and Melinda appear to have an arrangement that allows her to engage in brazen affairs with a succession of pretty young men. The couple's peers feel bad for the publicly cuckolded Vic, but he maintains that he accepts Melinda for who she is.

When Vic semi-jokingly tells Melinda's latest "friend" that he is responsible for the death of her missing previous lover, the gossip spreads and a local writer (Tracy Letts) begins to suspect Vic may not actually be okay with his wife's infidelities.

Deep Water doesn't quite represent the triumphant return of the star-studded erotic thriller, it's a tad too slight for that, and is often frankly ridiculous. But it's a fun way to spend two hours and features two attractive leads messing with each other in a manner that sustains interest.

In a role notably informed by his part in Gone Girl (arguably the last proper erotic thriller) Affleck maintains a noir-ish inscrutability, while de Armas (No Time To Die) is equal parts radiant and impetuous. They have an uneasy chemistry that suits the film.

The interesting supporting cast is under-utilised, but that's more of a reflection of the (admirable?) focus on intra-marriage tension - third parties are mostly incidental.

As in the best erotic thrillers, there are architectural pleasures to behold, which here take the form of some beautiful historic New Orleans homes. Also enjoyable are the various party set-pieces that take place in these homes – grown-up parties in movies feel rare these days.

Less consciously stylistic than most of Lyne's previous works, the aesthetic muting feels like an unfortunate concession to modern mainstream cinema's inherently bland look. It speaks to the film's ultimate inability to make a convincing argument for the return of the big-screen erotic thriller, but some of us remain committed to the cause. It's time for Paul Verhoeven (who directed Basic Instinct) to step up.

Cast: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas ,Tracy Letts
Director: Adrian Lyne
Running time: 115 minutes
Rating: TBC
Verdict: Moderately diverting marital mind games